The Powerpuff Girls: Mountain Timing
by Pete the Rock
Summary: As if Ken's invention being stolen by Mojo wasn't bad enough, the Black Z-ray infected monkey uses it to send the Powerpuff Girls to a foggy area where Ash and Pikachu find them. Using the English dubbed names so I apologize for any confusion.
1. Wrong Inventive Hands

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or Demashta! Powerpuff Girls Z. Will use English names for this._

* * *

_Summary: As if Ken's new invention being stolen by Mojo wasn't bad enough, the Black Z-ray infected monkey uses it to send the Powerpuff Girls to a foggy area where Ash and Pikachu locate them._

_**The Powerpuff Girls: Mountain Timing**_

_Chapter 1: Wrong Inventive Hands_

A large city. Many people were enjoying the sunny day, performing errands and exercising. Exiting from a large school were three young ladies with enormously large eyes and white belts worn loosely around their waists. One was a redhead with her hair in a clip ponytail who wore a white sweatshirt with red/white stripped sleeves. She also wore a jean skirt and tennis shoes. She extended her arms, stretching what was a stressful day. "Oh, boy!" she exasperated. "After that, I can't wait for some peanut butter and strawberry cake!" She has to have some of the weirdest taste buds.

"Peanut butter and strawberry cake?" repeated the young pigtail blond in a white blazer and blue skirt. "Wow, Blossom! Did the Z rays warp your tongue as well as your powers?" She and a raven-haired girl in a green baseball cap giggled. The raven-haired wore a green baseball jersey and shorts to match.

"Bubbles, my taste buds have been unique even before the Z rays tagged us." Bubbles and the raven-haired shrugged their shoulders. They weren't really going to argue about what kind of girl Blossom can act as. "Anyway, I don't know about you but I'm heading to the professor's lab. Ken's got a new invention that I like to see."

"Aside from homework?" the raven-haired pointed out. "The teacher really put his foot down since you've been missing assignments." Blossom hiccuped from her friend's warning about the forgotten homework.

"How can you help when our school's breathing down your neck?" Bubbles asked in concern. All Blossom did was scratch her head in humiliation and shame.

"Let's just get to the professor's lab, please?!" she whined. Shrugging their shoulders, her friends gave up on trying to reason with Blossom and headed to a large gray structure by the outskirts. Inside, a young raven-haired boy was in a frantic panic.

"Where is it?!" he cried. "Where is it?!" The girls entered the large room inside the structure as the boy searched high and low.

"Ken!" the girls called in unison. The boy on the staircase heard his name and spotted the girls coming.

"Girls, big problem! I can't find my hand-held teleporter!" The girls groaned at what the Ken lost, not sure believing such an item exist.

"And I thought I watched too much TV," the raven-haired girl murmured. Regardless, this was an invention by someone close to them. Bubbles had an idea.

"Let's check the security tapes!" she suggested. Ken thought for a second. If he did lose the invention, the security tapes would certainly locate it.

"Good idea, Bubbles!" agreed the boy as he hopped from the staircase to a wide-screen computer. Hitting several keys, Ken watched the tape from when he created the hand-held to when it disappeared. The girls joined in when they saw that this was no lost-and-found case. It was a theft. A large green-faced monkey wearing a glass, purple striped helmet and a black cloak swooped in and snagged a black remote-shaped device from a stand. Instantly, Ken and the girls were upset.

"Mojo!" Blossom recognized. "Man, that overeager simian just can't keep his monkey nose off of us, can't he?" Ken switched attitudes from panic to peeved.

"Get the teleporter back, girls!" On that order from Ken, the girls raced out of the lab to find Mojo. The three girls even split up to cover more ground if only to locate the primate that had taken a device right out of fiction but if Ken was really able to create such a device... After sometime, the girls came back together, no luck on the location of the monkey.

"Any sign of Mojo?" the raven-haired girl asked her colleagues.

"Nowhere, Buttercup!" Bubbles shrugged. There's no way that ape escaped the city according to Ken. It wasn't that long ago, right?

"Let's transform and search the air and rooftops," Blossom suggested. "He's in New Townsville... somewhere." They ran into an alley way free of people's eyes that could see the transformation. Rings magically appeared out of nowhere while pulling out what seemed to be pocket mirrors with different colors: Blossom was red, Bubbles was blue and Buttercup was green. They opened the mirrors and scanned their rings. Their outfits morphed. "Hyper...Blossom!"

"Rolling...Bubbles!" Bubbles chanted.

"Powered...Buttercup!" Buttercup roared. When the transformation was complete, all three wore matching blouses, jackets with a yellow "P" imprinted, skirts and shoes, each with a separate color. Hold on, there's more! Blossom had a Yo-Yo on her, Bubbles had a giant bubble wand and Buttercup possessed a hammer. All three took to the sky to find the chimpanzee who's made a monkey out of them and their friends. Suddenly, a mechanical robot was spotted roaming around the city. It's pilot? That sinister simian, Mojo.

"Hold it right there, Mojo!" Blossom ordered as they descended on the monkey gone primate.

"There you are, smelly Powerpuff Girls!" Mojo smiled. "I've been waiting for you!" This was a trap. Mojo commanded the robot to blast engine boosters to help it fly like the girls. "You like what I did to Robo Jojo? Some of it was from the brat's hand-held do-hickeys!" He launched his claws at the girls, forcing Bubbles to react.

"Shielding Bubbles!" she called out as she swung her wand over herself and her friends. The claws clasped the bubble which didn't pop.

"Thanks, Bubbles!" Blossom praised. That confidence would be short lived.

"Yes, thanks, smelly human!" Mojo sneered. "Now I have you in my grasp! Behold!" Mojo brought out the device that was seen in the security tape. To Blossom, Mojo held something out of science fiction.

"You really think that thing works?" she called the device out. "Ken's new toy is as creative as a toaster." The undaunted Mojo pointed the device to the street, pressing a button. A white beam of light struck the road and ballooned to make a hole on the ground. The girls were surprised. Ken turned science fiction to reality.

"I think we're in trouble," Bubbles gawked. How long did it take for her to establish that?

"But before I do you into the light," Mojo opened up with a pink rifle-like contraption. Pulling the trigger, a ray of light struck the girls and popped the bubble. The girls fell, back in their first attire as they plummeted into the abyss. The hole closed when the girls entered. The monkey began to dance, victorious against the Powerpuff Girls. Where did the girls end up? Passed out in a very dense foggy area. A minute passed when Blossom stirred. She rose little by little, reeling from falling quite a distance.

"So much for an underground dungeon," she coughed in relief. "But I don't recall anywhere with this much fog." Despite the thick fog, Blossom spotted her two friends. "Bubbles! Buttercup!" The sound of their friend woke the other two, hurt from the plunge. Bubbles was worried about her friends' conditions.

"Are you okay, Blossom?" she murmured.

"Yeah, I'm good." Buttercup saw the fog, unsure of her surroundings.

"What happened?" she wondered. "Did New Townsville bite the dust?"

"No, I think we were relocated," Bubbles replied. With the fog getting much thicker, the girls didn't have much of a choice but to move on. Without a warning of some sort, the three saw a woman in a hooded cloak under a tree, wearing sunglasses. To the girls, it may be a way out of the foggy mess.

"You think we can ask her how to get outta here?" Blossom asked. The woman looked up to see the girls but instead of giving the girls directions...

"Listen...Listen to what I say," she sang. "Pass, pass on through as you travel Baltoy's path. Go on ahead will you ever make it back. Though you may be afraid to pass on through. Pass, pass you must, Baltoy's path waits for you. Pass, pass you..." The song stopped. The woman disappeared.

"What the-" Buttercup stuttered. None of the three were sure what just happened.

"Anyone have an idea of what that was all about?" Blossom questioned.

"Not really!" Bubbles bumbled on an explanation. With no leads at this point, the three moved on, the song lingering in their heads. Speaking of, the woman reappeared.

"Baltoy's path, it waits for you," she continued to sing. "Pass, pass you must on..." Not again! Come on, finish the song! Back out in the middle of a foggy nowhere, the girls were contemplating on what to do now that the woman couldn't provide information.

"Well, that lady could have given us more than a song that makes no sense," Buttercup groaned. It was an eerie but rather alluring tune.

"I don't know," Bubbles reconsidered. "It was a rather calming song, though spooky at times." Buttercup believed that Bubbles had a clue about what the song meant.

"Perhaps you know something about this toy's path, right? Like maybe it's a way home?" The poor blond teenager struggled to think of the song's purpose. As Buttercup geared up to tease at Bubbles, she also noticed their redhead companion looking out in the distance. Did she see something in the distance? How with the fog so thick, you'd need a chainsaw to cut through? She tilted her head and clasped her hands together. What's next, a ray of light actually hitting her?

"Listen, listen to what I say," she began to sing what that one lady performed. "Pass, pass on through as you travel-" Buttercup stopped Blossom's singing by pulling her hair. Rude? Yes. Painful? Yes. Necessary?

"Okay, Ayumi Hamasaki," Buttercup teased. "We only need one weirdo to sing something like that." Blossom wasn't thrilled with having her version be cut short.

"I was just thinking if I sang it, I might understand the lyrics." Well, it's not a bad theory. Bubbles understood Blossom's direction of brain use.

"I get why you wanted to sing but we need to find out what this...Baltoy's path is," she urged to stay the course. "Heck, we don't even know what a Baltoy is." So they would need someone who knows something about a Baltoy.

"Bubbles, we're stuck somewhere in this thick fog and the only one else on here vanished," Buttercup reminded. "We'll be lucky to find someone else in this soup, let alone find a way out." Well, Buttercup, you're about to get your wish.

"I thought I heard someone over here," a boy spoke...but there's not a boy seen anywhere. The girls looked around for the voice. "Man, the fog's so thick, I can't see my own feEEEEEET!" A scream from the top of a nearby mountain alerted the girls to view a young man and yellow mouse sliding down the side. The boy was in a blue sweat-tee, jeans and red baseball cap while the mouse was yellow with a tail of a lightning bolt with the core body being rather large. Blossom and Buttercup saw him and braced to catch his slide.

"Here he comes!" Blossom yelled as he reached the bottom. The young man was caught in a tag team clothesline but the mouse was flying. That's where Bubbles played catcher. She caught the mouse, hugging it by her chest. There's nothing there to bounce the large mouse from her. The mouse was grateful to Bubbles for catching it. Blossom and Buttercup helped the boy back on his feet. "You okay?" He slowly got his footing underneath him.

"I'm good but what about Pikachu?" Bubbles heard the new name, turning to the mouse as a ponder that this was Pikachu.

("I'm okay, Ash!") the mouse squeaked back. Bubbles returned the mouse to the boy.

"Thanks for catching us." Blossom giggled at the boy's kindness.

"It's nothing!" she smiled.

"Yeah, we always like to help out!" Bubbles added with a beaming smirk. Buttercup was anxious to get out of the area.

"Alright, already!" she huffed in fluster. "Can we find a way out of this mess, now?" Easier said than done.

"Hey, getting off the Kiri Kiri Mountains isn't gonna be easy," the boy pointed out. "Max told me that these mountains are famous for densely thick fogs." This made escaping the area more difficult.

"Not to mention that song that one lady was tuning," Blossom reminded. The boy and Pikachu were curious with Blossom's claim.

("There's a song?") the mouse repeated. The boy was just as puzzled about the song as much as the trio of teens.

"I'm wondering who you three are," he changed the subject. Throughout this whole time, neither side identified themselves.

"I think learning who we are could help in escaping this mountain," Bubbles acknowledged. "That way in case any of us are in trouble, we'll have someone's backs. I'm Bubbles, that's Blossom and there's Buttercup." The boy and Pikachu rose eyebrows at the names. It would make sense if these were _nick_names but actual names? He gave up on trying to wonder how they got odd names.

"My name's Ash and this is Pikachu!" Pikachu stuck two fingers up, a peace sign. "Now about that song..." The Powerpuff Girls, Ash and Pikachu now had to work together to find a way down the fogged up, treacherous Kiri Kiri Mountains while Mojo's creating havoc back in New Townsville. Can the girls find a way back and stop the monkey from ruining the city?

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Baltoying Around

_Chapter 2: Bal-toying Around_

* * *

Away from their hometown, trapped on a foggy mountain, a song that's eating away at their minds... Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup found themselves away from New Townsville no thanks to that villainous simian, Mojo, after he stole Ken's Teleporter and a few extra devices. Stranded on the mountains, the girls ran into a woman who sang about "Baltoy's Path." Soon after, Ash stumbled into their arms, literally, and introduced himself and Pikachu. "Now about that song..." Ash questioned.

"The song mentioned something about some road known as Baltoy's Path," Bubbles explained. "The song mentioned what to expect when you travel down the path." Ash listened, wondering the same problem the girls were experiencing.

"Baltoy, huh?" Ash pulled out a red hand-held device where he hit a few buttons and a light brown clay doll with a top-like foot and looking like it was from an Aztec relic.

"Baltoy, the Clay Doll Pokémon," it computed with a woman's voice. "There are stories about Baltoy that have coexisted with humans in ancient times." Blossom and Bubbles peered at the screen, viewing the described Baltoy.

"That's a Baltoy?" Blossom gulped. "And it's a Poke- What?"

"A Pokémon," Ash repeated. "Pikachu's a Pokémon, too." Pikachu flashed two fingers, a peace sign.

"What's a Pokémon?" Buttercup asked. Ash would be able to explain since he's got a better idea than the girls.

"Pokémon are everywhere and exist alongside humans," he clarified. "There are over 400 known Pokémon that exist. Pokémon are a lot like partners, we do a lot together from battling to saving lives." The girls seemed intrigued with what Pokémon were.

"So, Pokémon are more than just a mouse and a clay doll," Blossom wanted to make sure.

"Trust me, Pikachu and Baltoy are only two. There's a lot more. Anyway, we should stick together." An idea that even Buttercup had no problem with.

"Yeah, if it means finding New Townsville, I'm all for joining you to evacuate this fog," she joined along. The group wandered into the thickets of the fog.

"So, how did you find yourself in this fog?" Blossom wondered.

"We were cutting through the mountains to reach Rubello City for May's next Pokémon Contest and somehow this fog threw us all off track," Ash confessed. "I'm only wondering if the others made it out." Bubbles wasn't worried about Ash's friends.

"I'm sure they're all right," she reassured. The fog became more dense that visibility was absent. It would nearly cause a disaster. Blossom took one step too many and she started to fall.

"AH!" she shrieked. Ash was quick to catch her by the arm before she fell over.

"I gotcha!" Ash grunted to keep her safe. Buttercup and Bubbles latched on to Ash and helped pull their friend up. The momentum proved better than just keeping Blossom from a casualty. Ash, Bubbles and Buttercup fell on the dirt while Blossom fell on him. Pikachu got to everyone to make sure they were okay. As Blossom rose back up, she and Ash's eyes met. Ash wanted to make sure Blossom was in good shape. "You okay?" Blossom, cheeks blushing red, could only nod. Bubbles was thankful that they could help their partner.

"That's a little close for comfort," she relieved.

"I'll say," Buttercup agreed. "I think I'll bring a flashlight on anymore foggy journeys." How would that help? All got up on their feet and looked down, viewing what seemed to be an endless fall.

"One more step and we would've been goners," Ash huffed. It was a close call for Blossom. Seeing how far a fall would have been, Blossom wrapped her arms around Ash. Was that fear or admiration for saving her life? "Easy, Blossom. You're safe." Ash believed it was the sudden fear of heights. That's when more sounds echoed. All turned to the voice. "What's that?" Out of the fog was...a Baltoy? How lucky do you have to be?

"That's a Baltoy?" Buttercup wondered. When they saw where the Baltoy was spinning towards, going to the edge of the cliff, they became a little worried.

"Oh no!" Ash reacted. "It's heading straight for the cliff!" Bubbles sprinted out to the spinning Pokémon and hoisted it to her.

"Where do you think you're going, silly Baltoy?" she teased. Baltoy looked up at Bubbles with the squinted eyes. "You were just about to take a risky dive off the mountain." Baltoy freaked out, thinking that it was about to fall off and die. At least it was safe in Bubbles' arms.

"You don't have to be cruel about it, Bubbles," Buttercup reprimanded. Yeah, it was rather harsh.

"Sorry. But think about the song, Baltoy's path." Baltoy scratched its head wondering about what this girl was talking about. Before they had an idea on how to approach the subject...

"There you are!" a girl raced in, calling for someone. The redhead pigtailed girl wore a blue overall dress with green bracelets. She raced to Bubbles still holding on to Baltoy.

"I take it this Baltoy belongs to you?" She snagged Baltoy out of her arms and embraced it in a hug.

"Yes. Thank you." Ash came forward to explain Bubbles' quick act.

"We were fortunate to keep your Baltoy from going over the cliff," he expressed. The girl seemed puzzled. Everyone's on a mountain, how could there _not_ be cliffs to watch out for?

"What cliff?" she asked. Ash and Buttercup darted their eyes to where Baltoy would have ended up if not for Bubbles' actions. She saw the edge, freaked out and clutching Baltoy even more. Very understandable for her response. "Baltoy, I promise not to go wandering off like that again." Baltoy was forgiving. "I'm sorry. I guess I was kinda reckless about coming to the mountains without thinking." She's not the only one.

"That's okay. I'm Ash and this is Pikachu." Pikachu did the peace sign once more.

"My name's Calista," she let her name be known. "Of course, you've met my Baltoy." Baltoy waived its arm, saying hello.

"I'm Bubbles," the blond allowed to say her name, as well as her friends. "That's Blossom and Buttercup." Names done, Blossom decided to ask about Calista's reason for being on the mountain.

"Anyway, what brings you two to the Kiri Kiri Mountains?" she questioned. Calista became ashamed about being on the mountain unprepared.

"I guess I need to explain, don't I?" she mulled. She walked over to a few tree stumps and sat down. Ash and the girls joined her, Bubbles sitting on another stump. "You see, we were trying to find ancient ruins on the mountains. Then the fog rolled up and we got lost so I asked Baltoy to lead the way." The other kids were amazed that she was searching for some ruins in the mountains.

"You're kidding!" Blossom awed. "There are ancient ruins in the mountains?"

"Yes!" Calista reached into her bag and pulled out an orange book which the cover had a Baltoy and some stone circle with markings on it. "This says so. See, this book tells us that there are ancient ruins in the Kiri Kiri Mountains and that they hold the most valuable artifacts in the whole universe." How...much are we talking when she meant valuable?

"The whole universe?" Buttercup gawked, looking like Calista wanted to pull her leg.

"Once we get our hands on those artifacts, it'll tell us about the civilization that resided here." So, she's not finding the artifacts for profit? Money's not her thing, huh? She clutched the book to her chest while Pikachu played with Baltoy. "Finding those artifacts is my dream."

"Hey, if you can find it, more power to you," Blossom cheered.

"Thanks. You see, I want to be an archaeologist." That's when she frowned, alerting the rest. "Sadly, that might not happen." Whoa, no need to put yourself down.

"Why do you say that?" Blossom asked.

"Because my parents don't want me to be an archaeologist. They want me to be a doctor like they are. When they found the collection of artifacts that I found, they got mad at me. I think they were so upset that they threw my collection away...except for this book that I hid. That's when there was a phone call for me. The woman on the other side told me to come to the mountains as soon as I could. She sounded rather urgent to meet me up here and told me that the contents of the book were true. So I sneaked out of the house without telling my parents, of course." She certainly took a big risk but the way her parents were treating her, not even Buttercup could blame her.

"Hey, I may support some parents but when they hold you back from seeking your dream, I just wanna give them a piece of my mind," she snarled. While Ash and Blossom understood Buttercup's anger, that might have been a little overexerting.

"You don't really need to beat them up to prove a point," she attempted to calm the rough raven-haired girl down. Ash wanted to get back on track.

"So, Calista," he called. "Do you know a way to search for the ruins?" Calista was more than eager to allow her new friends some knowledge.

"Yes," she said with glee. "You see, there's a song that goes with it." She opened the book and read the lyrics in song. "Listen, listen to what I say; Pass, pass on through as you enter Baltoy's path!"

"Go on ahead will you ever make it back!" Bubbles added in song. Calista and Ash were shocked to find out someone else knew of the song. Buttercup palmed her face in anguish. She didn't want anyone other than someone who knew the song to sing it.

"But how do you know the song, Bubbles?" Bubbles wasn't shy about where she learned the song.

"There was a lady who was singing it by a tree. I think that tree's close by." Calista felt that she was on the right track about finding the lost civilization.

"My thoughts are that the song holds a key to finding the ruins. Do you know where the tree is?"

"You bet," Blossom answered. "It's not far from here and we can help you find it." Calista was happy to receive escort.

"Thanks, all of you." She, Blossom and Bubbles departed for the tree, as well as the Pokémon. Buttercup's sigh alerted Ash to this frustration.

"Is something wrong?" he pondered.

"Oh, I don't know," she growled. "We had school, checked in on a close friend at a laboratory, fought a crazy monkey, transported over here against our will..." To Ash, the girls had suffered enough.

"Okay, you've been through a lot! I'm sorry for asking!" Buttercup shot a look at Ash, wanting him to relax.

"No!... I-I didn't mean to snap at you." She shook her head, trying to say something that didn't make her feel like a jerk to him. "Sorry. Yeah, it's been a long day for all of us." Finally, they traversed to meet up with the rest. Once reaching, the kids found the same woman in the hooded cloak.

"There she is!" Bubbles recognized. The woman looked up but didn't do a repeat performance.

"You're the same girls I sang to before," she thought. "At least my memory isn't fading at my age." Blossom shook her head, denying that she was old.

"I don't think you're that old, yet," she giggled. "Anyway, there's someone we brought over that wants to learn about the origins of the song." Calista came forward in wonder.

"Please, you got to tell me about the song's meaning," she pleaded. The woman wasn't concerned.

"Why, it's just a song," she played it off. "Why do you want to know of its origin?" Calista was a bit steamed about getting denied.

"I'm talking about traveling Baltoy's Path! See, I think that song holds the key to the Baltoy's civilization." The woman was satisfied with who this little girl was.

"I knew it...the moment we talked on the phone." This befuddled Calista. "Follow me." She entered the large hole in the tree as she recited the song. Shockingly, everyone managed to fit inside. Then the floor below gave way. Everyone screamed as they fell down a long slide...except for the woman who seemed composed. What awaited at the bottom of the slide? A civilization? A trap? A way home for the girls?

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Transformation Time

_Chapter 3: Transformation Time_

* * *

Okay, everyone! We're all going down the Super Fun Happy Slide! Apparently, the Super Fun Happy Slide wasn't so much fun for Ash, Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, Calista, Pikachu, Baltoy and the other woman. Each were screaming their lungs out. They hoped the bottom arrived soon so that they could catch their breaths. With a flash of light, the bottom was reached. Ash and Blossom flew far after exiting and landed hard on the stone floor while the rest fell onto...a sponge? That's the biggest sponge we've all seen. Sure, everyone else gets to land on something bouncy while the only boy for who knows how far takes a digger to his back with Blossom on top. "That wasn't so bad," Bubbles sighed in relief. Pikachu looked to where Ash landed, finding Blossom on top. Did those two have more momentum than the rest? Pikachu came over to Ash and Blossom to find an interesting surprise: Blossom and Ash's lips met. Ash was shocked to see Blossom and feel her kiss. Blossom stirred, removing her lips from his. Was that an accidental smooch? Did Ash have sudden feelings for Blossom? Or was it the other way around? Blossom's cheeks blossomed red.

"You okay?" Ash asked. Blossom's response was her digging his head from the ground and laying another, more embracing kiss. Was this for keeping her from harm? Was this out of fear from that long slide? Whatever it was, she wasn't about to release such soft lips. Buttercup begged to differ... rather violently.

"That's enough, Blossom!" she argued as she pulled the ponytail, hurting Blossom's scalp. Despite the painful tugging, she refused to let Ash's head and lips go as she and Ash were pulled up to a seating position.

"Stop it!" Calista begged Buttercup and Blossom to hold their fighting. That's when she realized her Baltoy had something to break them apart, regardless of Blossom's heartwarming wish. "Baltoy, use Confusion!" Baltoy got it's eyes, then body to glow a sky blue and coated the three in the struggle. The three were separated before being lowered on to their feet. Bubbles huffed in relief that the three were safely broken apart.

"Thanks a lot, Calista," she praised. Calista bobbed her head before finding hieroglyphics on a wall. To her, this was the discovery she had looked for. Different drawings depicted a unique history.

"This is it! Drawings from the ancient civilization!" Ash and the other girls got to where Calista ran up, observing the hieroglyphics.

"Drawings from...what civilization?" Blossom questioned.

"From the Baltoy Civilization back in ancient times! And it looks like the technology back then was super advanced." A civilization that was way ahead of their own time. Could they have used this technology to protect the artifacts?

"Fascinating!" Bubbles awed. Ash turned to the hooded woman with a question.

"Excuse me, but do you know where the greatest artifact is?" he asked. The woman darted her head and finger to a pile of rocks.

"Over there," she replied. Everyone turned to the pile. Was this really where the artifact laid?

"It's just a pile of rocks." There should be a reason.

"There was an earthquake not too long and it caused the rocks to fall upon the magic wheel. Sadly, my Baltoy was caught up in it and now is trapped underneath the pile." Was that the reason she called Calista? To use her Baltoy to free her Baltoy?

"Hey, nothing like a little Powerpuff muscle to help get the weight off your back," Buttercup offered. "Ash, gimme a hand!"

"Okay!" he accepted as they got to the pile. Buttercup tried to push and Ash pulled but the rock wasn't giving an inch. "It won't budge!" Both surrendered.

"Maybe transformed, this wouldn't be a problem." Maybe Blossom and Bubbles would like to pitch in.

"Calista, perhaps you can use your Baltoy to move the rocks," the woman suggested. "Provided you use the right ability." What could she use? Quickly, she knew what Baltoy could use to move the rocks.

"Of course!" she figured out. "Hey, Ash, Buttercup, you might wanna move for this!" Ash and Buttercup bailed from the pile and returned to the rest. Cleared, Calista was ready. "Baltoy, once more with Confusion." Baltoy used Confusion to move every boulder without trying to damage the giant artifact. It placed the boulders a safe distance from the artifact...and another Baltoy. Seeing that Baltoy, the woman raced to check on that Pokémon.

"Baltoy!" She raced on to the artifact, a giant stone circle with markings, and clasped the Baltoy. "Are you okay, Baltoy?" Baltoy weakly moaned, rattled with all those rocks on top of it. "I know it's been hard on you. Take a good rest." Baltoy morphed into a ray of red light as it zipped into a red/white ball. The woman stood back up as the rest reach the circle.

"_This_ is the artifact?" Bubbles guessed.

"Yes!"

"But wait!" Calista remembered as she pulled her book from her bag. "This book says that it's still yet to be dug into and discovered."

"That's true. I have the same book." Ash and the girls were flabbergasted to learn that she had the same book Calista held, only dusty and worn. "Yes, it's because of this book that I was able to finally obtain the greatest treasure in the universe through the magical power of this artifact. I have searched for this place for a long time. My mother and father stubbornly wanted me to give up my dream of archeology for their selfish desires to study medicine." To be a doctor... This sounded familiar.

"Isn't that what's going on with your parents, Calista?" Blossom recalled. Calista nodded, knowing Blossom had been paying attention.

"During my journeys away, I began to do research on the Baltoy Civilization without much success until I searched on these mountains to see if there was a lead on how to inherit the Civilization's studies and the greatest treasure. It had taken me years to unearth the discoveries." Quite the dedication. Even Calista felt that her efforts weren't in vain.

"But still, you did find the ruins to the civilization's artifacts to further understand," she pointed out.

"Perhaps. Calista, I can tell you that the greatest treasure isn't exactly buried beneath soil. In fact, it's what everyone has. I heard about the ancient ruins and believe what we all want to know about this historic civilization, but I've only scratched the surface. I want you to finish uncovering all the Baltoy Civilization wanted us to understand." Calista knew she had a daunting task, insisted by a stranger who called her.

"I know now what I'm gonna do," she figured out as she gazed at her book. Wait...her book she had! "Hold on! I know this book came out a couple of months ago so I know it's totally brand new!" The girls had a double-take on the books, knowing how new Calista's book looked and how beat up the other woman's book looked.

"Hey, you're right!" Bubbles realized.

"How's her's still hot off the press and yours is so old?" Ash asked. The woman just laughed.

"It's because I've used it since I obtained the book and used it every time for a long time," she responded. No one had a clue with what she just told. "Don't you worry about the details, Calista. Have Baltoy do Rapid Spin on the magic wheel. On that, all your answers will unravel." Calista seemed nervous about having her Baltoy do the stunt. That's when a rumble shook the ground. Ash and Buttercup knelt to keep their feet steady when a drilling vehicle burrowed down to the ruin below. The yellow vehicle rolled to a stop. Laughter. Then, voices.

"See, James," a voice of an adult woman billowed. "I knew we would be able to follow the twerps to their hiding spot!" The vehicle opened up to show a trio with villainous sneers. One was a female with wavy blood-red hair. She wore a white mid-drift shirt with a red 'R' on it, white skirt and black thigh-high boots. One was a male with dampened blue hair. He donned a white uniform with that same red 'R' on it. The smallest was not a human but a cat with a gold oval coin wedged in its forehead.

"Yes, but they look like they need some extra company," the male offered.

"Present company accepted!" the cat declared. Ash and Pikachu did not approve of the new company.

"Team Rocket!" Ash bellowed in anger. "What are you up to this time?!" The girls realized that he did not like this group, yet wondered why.

"Who are these guys?" Bubbles wondered. Ash needed to clarify, even the other two behind them.

"Team Rocket goes around the world to steal other people's Pokémon." Thieves, one's which cannot escape.

"That may be true except for today," the redhead snickered. "It's the treasure that's in these ruins. Meowth?" The cat whipped out a remote control.

"One Baltoy..." it meowed. A claw came out of the vehicle. "...Coming right up!" The claw extended out and snagged Calista's Baltoy. They lied. "And now for the treasure!" The drill was replaced with different digging tools like a shovel, pickaxe and a rake. They weren't aware that the treasure wasn't even buried to begin with.

"Stop now!" the woman on the magic wheel bellowed. "If you damage the magic wheel, the power in the artifact will be lost forever!" The vehicle's chassis had to be thick because they didn't acknowledge a word she said and rolled toward the magic circle.

"They're not listening!" Calista cried out. Blossom stood forth, ready to demolish this "tank."

"Time you get out of that vehicle and face punishment!" she roared. "Girls, time to transform!" No choice, Bubbles and Buttercup had to act. They did their transformation dance. "Hyper...Blossom!"

"Rolling...Bubbles!" Bubbles chanted.

"Powered...Buttercup!" Buttercup shouted. All three of them transformed into their superhero outfits. Ash, Calista and the woman were stunned to see the girls be superheroes...but even Ash had to point out something with Buttercup.

"We're thankful that you're superheroes but Buttercup, you don't look good in that skirt," he suggested. Buttercup sighed at the opinion.

"See, at least someone agrees with me about wearing some silly looking skirt~!" Blossom wanted to stay on the course at hand.

"Let's stop Team Rocket and get Baltoy free!" she ordered. The three flew at Team Rocket where Blossom whipped out a Yo-Yo. "Shooting Yo-Yo!" She flung it, breaking the claw holding Baltoy who retreated back to Calista's side.

"They got Baltoy!" the blue-haired whined. The redhead wasn't phased.

"We still have the tools, don't forget!" she presumed. They rolled on but Bubbles was about to put them in their place.

"Sticky Bubbles!" she summoned as she wove her wand, dispersing many bubbles which hit the treads of the vehicle. They stopped rolling as the bubbles were now glue on their tires.

"We're stuck!" Meowth realized. To Buttercup, they were open for a barrage and the rocks from before would be perfect ammunition.

"Here's my version of a hailstorm!" she grinned loudly as she swung her hammer, crushing the boulders into tons of smaller rocks flying at the immobile car, pelting dents, breaking the digging tools and weakening the chassis. The hood was sheered off, exposing Team Rocket. The three were going to pay for trying to ruin a powerful artifact.

"Pikachu, let's finish this with Thunderbolt!" he commanded. Pikachu fired a heavy stream of lightning that nailed Team Rocket who couldn't do a thing. The tank exploded and they were flying out of the tree.

"Team Rocket's blasting off so soon!" they screamed as they flew out of the mountain. Unfortunately, they had no control. Ash, Calista and the woman were grateful that the Powerpuff Girls aided them against someone like Team Rocket.

"That was awesome!" Calista cheered as Ash and Buttercup exchanged a fist-bump and Bubbles petted Pikachu for his help. Then came Blossom using her Yo-Yo and hoisting a surprised Ash to her who can't let a good thing like kissing him go. Maybe this was her way to say thanks for assisting. Calista and the woman were eating this scene up much to the chagrins of Bubbles and Buttercup. The woman wanted to return to the task at hand.

"Now that the distraction is out-of-the-way, let's try to have Baltoy do Rapid Spin on the magic wheel," she instructed. Calista was ready.

"Right. You ready, Baltoy?" Baltoy was ready to go as it hovered to the center of the wheel and spun like a top. Lights from the markings glow eerily, nerves forming on all but the woman.

"Could this be?" Blossom wondered. "Baltoy's Path?"

"I feel so afraid!" Calista shuttered. The woman walked on to the wheel as a pillar of light rose. As she entered, everyone wondered what she was doing. As she turned, her hood flew off her head, exposing long red hair. Bubbles saw the hair, looking very familiar.

"Wait a second," she figured. "You can't be...?" That's when she removed the sunglasses she worn.

"Yes!" she accepted. "I can tell you now. My name is Calista!" But if she's Calista, what about the Calista right here? "I am you, Calista...from the future!" It was impossible for anyone to believe. Then again, Ken did invent a teleporter so it's not really that farfetched to understand.

"So this whole time, we've been with Calista from two time periods?" Ash guessed.

"Yes, I apologize to all of you for tricking you. I can tell you that this is what the Baltoy Civilization bequeathed to us: a time machine!" What's with all these science fiction items becoming science fact? "You see, the greatest treasure in the universe is time. I have spent many years, my life at most to understand what this civilization gave us. Because of this, I have not long before my time ends." She's dying? "Calista, I want you to finish what I've started. I came to you as an encouragement to follow your dream. Our time was short, but memorable." Present Calista ran up the steps to the edge of the cylinder of light and to Future Calista.

"Don't go!" Present Calista pleaded. "Please, teach me how to continue the research!" Future Calista shook her head...for good reason.

"I cannot. The same person cannot exist in the same time period for long." A time paradox?

"But if you're me in the future, how can I change it knowing that you're here?" A scoff from Future Calista was a sign of comfort.

"You came to the Kiri Kiri Mountains with courage. You've already started to change the future. Remember that your courage and dreams will help change the future I live in...and don't forget the song." Oh, boy. Here we go again with the song.

"Listen...listen to what I say!" Present Calista started.

"Pass, pass on through as you travel Baltoy's Path!" Future Calista chimed in.

"Go on ahead will you ever make it back!" Blossom joined.

"Though you may be afraid to pass on through," Bubbles jumped. "Pass, pass you must, Baltoy's Path waits for you! Pass, pass on through on Baltoy's-" Suddenly, Future Calista vanished, stunning Present Calista in fear. Everyone watch in surprise.

"Wait!" she yelled. She's gone...and the light dimmed down to nothing. A few seconds later, Baltoy returned, dizzy from spinning and fell. Hopefully, it doesn't throw up. "Baltoy! You okay?" Baltoy muttered it's condition, saying it would recover. "Can you believe it, Baltoy? With courage, and friends...we changed the future!" Was that a good thing or a bad thing? What did the future look like in the first place. Blossom held Ash's hand, watching it all unfold as Calista stood on the wheel. "Future me, thank you so!" All acknowledged the accomplishment of helping Calista with a possible brighter future.

"I guess time is a treasure we cannot waste," Buttercup studied. Even Pikachu agreed to the assumption.

("No we cannot!") he squeaked. Using the hole Team Rocket created, Ash and the girls crawled out of the tree...which the fog had lifted and daylight was ending.

"Hey, the fog!" Blossom noticed as she, Bubbles and Buttercup were back in their normal clothes. She helped Ash out before they helped the rest from the hole.

"Evening already," she noticed. "We had an adventure." She came over to Ash and hugged him. "How can I ever thank you all for helping me and Baltoy?" Ash was a little embarrassed with the ordeal...that he was being helped by girls with a girl.

"Hey, we all learned something on this journey," Bubbles summarized.

"Yeah, I guess so. From now on, I'm gonna work hard to follow my dream and make it a realization." Ash and the girls understood Calista's dream.

"Same goes for me, too," he confidently smiled. Blossom was interested with what Ash's dream held.

"Really?" she intriguingly wondered. "What's your dream?"

"My dream is to be a Pokémon Master." Calista sensed the overwhelming confidence from Ash, believing his dream to be true.

"And you'll become one," she encouraged. "I know." She stuck out a pinkie finger to Ash. "Here's to a promise." Ash knew that linking pinkie fingers was a way to believe in each other and linked his pinkie in the process.

"You got it!" A pinkie swear complete, Calista waived goodbye to her new friends. Viewing the sunset, Ash and the girls needed to get off the mountains.

"Calista said that Rubello City's to the North," Bubbles addressed. "So, we need to go this way!" She pointed to the north thanks to the setting sun's place. It had taken the group an hour, Ash hoping to be with his friends again. Getting off the mountain, he'd expected to see them. No sign.

"Are they waiting in the next city?" he assumed. Pikachu was just as concerned about Ash's friends. After all, they're his friends in the same fashion.

"We won't know until we actually reach Rubello," Buttercup hoped. Ash knew Buttercup was being truthful but he couldn't help it. That's when a beep from Blossom's belt alerted the group. The girls were rather dumbfounded. Blossom answered by opening her foundation case. On the mirror was actually a screen and a man who looked a bit like Ken was on it.

"Blossom!" he called out. Blossom figured out who this was.

"Professor?" she gasped. "How did you find us?"

"Remember, when you use your Power Belts to transform, we can find you wherever you go. Though across dimensions wasn't really expected." Still, that's some awesome accomplishment to contact the girls. "But the reason I'm calling is because Mojo and our woodland friend, Fuzzy, have been feuding and may need you to clear things up. New Townsville's in a heap of destruction." The girls began to understand the situation unfolding. However, a problem arose.

"We wish we could help but we're stuck in this world," Bubbles delivered the bad news.

"No problem! You see, I knew my son would delve into science fiction and create a prototype. I have the finished invention." He created the same thing? It even looked the same. What gives? "Unlike the prototype, this is voice activated and won't respond to anyone but me or Kenny." The girls could get going on home in New Townsville. "So when you're ready." Blossom wasn't ready. If it meant going away from Ash, she would want to stay. Duty as a Powerpuff Girl? Girlfriend to Ash?

"I'll come," Ash offered. The girls were befuddled. Ash actually volunteering to help the girls with the problems in New Townsville?

"Ash, we can't!" Bubbles denied. "You have to get to Rubello and back with your friends!" Blossom was touched. Instead of the Catch-22 that she didn't want to live with, Ash provided a potential win-win.

"Wait a second, Bubbles!" she answered. "The professor can bring him back here when we're done. He and Pikachu can come with us." Buttercup's mind didn't agree with Blossom's.

"Blossom, no!" she refused. "Look, I get that you like Ash but why do you wanna drag him into our situation?" Ash would quickly reply to that problem.

"Aren't you exhausted battling Team Rocket?" he referred. "Besides, I've got more Pokémon than just Pikachu. You need my help as much as I needed yours." He's right. The girls were still reeling after Mojo defeated them and they can't be at full strength coming back.

"Okay, but when this is over, you're coming right back here," Bubbles demanded. Ash nodded before Blossom acknowledged the professor.

"Ready!" she snapped to her communicator. A short while later, the portal opened. Professor's product seemed to work. All entered the portal, ready to tackle the fight between Mojo and Fuzzy.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. Enemy's Enemies

_Chapter 4: Enemy's Enemies_

* * *

Ash, Pikachu, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup exited a vortex created by the professor in his lab back in New Townsville. Instead of returning to his friends who were presumed to be in Rubello City, Ash offered his support to help the Powerpuff Girls about Mojo, the simian who sent the girls to Ash in the first place. "We're back!" the girls cheered, returning to their hometown. The professor and Ken dashed to the girls to make sure they were in good condition.

"Girls!" Ken called with a toy dog racing by their side.

"Ken, what's the situation?" Blossom wondered.

"Well, New Townsville's destruction has been minimized thanks to some unexpected help, mainly Princess and Fuzzy," he explained. Ash, visiting from his home world, seemed eager to get the lowdown on the issue at hand. Seeing the monitors viewing live action...the screen had the word "LIVE" on it...he dashed over to the monitor and viewed Mojo in his robot while fighting a pink humanoid fuzzy creature wearing overall jeans and an Afro-style redhead girl wearing a princess dress. Ken saw Ash's dash to the monitors. "Hey, what are you doing!?" Plotting according to the scorning place of his eyebrows.

"Girls, do what you can to recover your strength," he suggested. "We'll go and sort this mess!" Pikachu acknowledged the idea but the girls, the Professor and Ken wanted to disagree.

"You can't!" Blossom protested. "We know these guys more than you!"

"Maybe, but we're in better shape and besides..." Ash revealed his own red/white ball. "I did tell you that I have more than Pikachu on hand." Despite the girls still wanted to keep Ash from danger, he raced out and found the exit on his way into New Townsville. Now Pikachu had to question Ash's want to find the bad guys.

("Are you sure this is the direction of the ones destroying the town?") he asked. To his Pokémon, Ash was going into town blind. Ash figured that out, a plan in place.

"Keep your ears open, Pikachu! We may run into them soon enough!" Sooner than expected, an explosion echoed from close by. They were nearby. "Just like that!" Down an alleyway, they found Mojo and the pink creature locked arms to claws.

"Funny how you're flying around on my property that you want to total everything in its place," the pink creature taunted. Mojo seethed at the tease.

"Your property?" Mojo roared back. "You belong in the woods, smelly pink fuzzball!" The girl in the dress aimed a bazooka at the creature, flying with a jetpack.

"New Townsville doesn't need creatures like you!" she yelled as she pulled the trigger. A rocket came flying out of the barrel in a beeline at the pink thing. He pulled Mojo to the front of the missile where it blew up, propelling the robot away from the fuzzy one in overalls several yards. Ash and Pikachu arrived just as the girl flew right at the fuzzy creature. He answered with a leap and a forearm right at the jetpack, making her bounce of the concrete and coming to rest nearby the robot just as he regained his steel footing.

"How dare you knock me down, mojo!" Mojo growled. Ash had to help out in this scuffle, but what could he do?

"Let's see..." he examined. "Mojo's the green-faced monkey in the robot, Fuzzy's the pink creature and the princess is the lone girl." Studying, he thought the biggest threat would be Fuzzy. After all, he was tossing Mojo and the princess left and right.

"Now who else wants to tread on my property?" Fuzzy warned. One footstep from Ash and Fuzzy twisted to him. Ash walked into the battlefield. Bemused, Fuzzy scoffed. "You're a new face in New Townsville. Perhaps you don't know that anything I palm is my property." Ash peered around, seeing palm imprints destroying the streets, trees, buildings...anything that he practically placed his big hand on had a crushing impression, literally.

"Is that how it works?" he joked. Fuzzy was ready to put those huge mitts on Ash, charging in. Mojo saw Fuzzy charging at Ash, standing still.

"What is that smelly human doing standing there?" he pondered. Before a theory came in through the simian's overgrown brain encased in that fiberglass helmet, Fuzzy lunged his arm out, that huge pink mitt shooting right at Ash. Ash remembered his little partner.

"Do it!" Pikachu sprinted under with a glowing tail who smashed the concrete just in front of Fuzzy's path. Fuzzy stepped into the hole and balance gave way. He began to fall on to his face as Ash pulled out the red/white ball and tossed it up. The ball opened and revealed a charcoal-color shell with a large orange tortoise protruding limbs and head. "Body Slam, Torkoal!" Torkoal fell straight down and slammed on Fuzzy, knocking the wind out of his system. He was out like a light. Even Mojo was startled with how easy Ash displayed his Pokémon.

"His quick fight with Fuzzy is leaving me shaking in my cape, mojo!" That's when Ash and Pikachu darted their eyes to the chimpanzee. Mojo flinched. He was next. "Don't hurt Mojo!" The princess looked on, her plain but eerie yellow eyes intrigued with the young man.

"Hm, perhaps a potential boyfriend for me, Princess Morbucks," she plotted. She flew over to Ash with intent to have him as a mate. "Maybe there's something my sister's yet to have that I can take advantage on." Ash spotted Princess, startled at the jetpack packed girl. "Hey, handsome! May I know who you are?" Ash was a little startled but no one was really paying attention to a scowling Fuzzy. Torkoal felt movement and hopped off, allowing the pink creature to get to his feet. He was upset.

"That's the first time someone used my body against me!" he complimented. Ash and Princess stood firm, expecting Fuzzy to attack while the ape stood back. Professor and Ken watched helplessly. The girls were busy stuffing their young faces with anything edible.

"Dad, what do we do?" Ken asked. "He's surrounded!" Blossom saw the action, angered at Princess getting comfortably close to Ash.

"That's it, I'm going!" she demanded. Bubbles and Buttercup heard the outburst, not sure that it's a good idea with their conditions.

"But Blossom!" Bubbles spoke up. "We're not back at full strength!" Despite the truth, Blossom wasn't in the mood to discuss energy. Her kissing partner was in trouble.

"You guys can wait, I'm saving Ash!" She raced out of the building and transformed alone. "Hyper...Blossom!" Once transformed, she flew to stop Fuzzy and the Morbucks heir from getting close to Ash. Mojo was mostly watching. She wouldn't make it. Fuzzy's paw came right at Ash, forcing Princess to bail.

"Iron Defense!" Ash yelled, his Torkoal leaping despite the heavy shell. The turtle tucked his head and arms inside just as the paw slapped it. The slap had so much force regardless of its short range, it launched Torkoal into Ash and at a wall with power.

("Ash!") Pikachu cried out. Princess also feared the outcome of Ash, only to boil in anger at the fuzz thing.

"How dare you hurt my boyfriend!" she screamed as she whipped out her bazooka and fired. The missile struck and exploded on Fuzzy...at least his overgrown hands. The smoke cleared and for someone who took a missile in the hands, there wasn't even a scratch on him. Mojo took advantage of the feuding enemies to snag Fuzzy's arms via his robot. It was his idea to take control of the situation...at least on the surface.

"Let Mojo have a piece before you put your ugly mitts on him, mojo!" he yelled out. As Fuzzy now had to deal with the sudden tag team of Mojo and Princess, Ash got his footing back, his concern on Torkoal being top priority.

"Torkoal, you okay?" he asked a bit worried. Torkoal muttered and nodded to let Ash know he'd recover. Suddenly, his mind had gone into planning. Seeing how strong Fuzzy was to Mojo and Princess, he needed to do something to take advantage. "I have an idea. Use Flamethrower but fire it around Fuzzy." An indirect attack. Torkoal had to believe in his trainer. He leaped up again and breathed a stream of fire, close by Fuzzy's green boots. Fuzzy was distracted with Mojo to know that the concrete around him was burning up. He used the arms of the robot to fling Mojo around like he was in the Hammer Throw at the Olympics. Round and round Mojo goes, where he stops... where Fuzzy launches him. Where else? Mojo was flung so fast and hard, he flew out of the city at high speed. Who knew Mojo took after Team Rocket? Anyway, Ash and Princess ducked to avoid the robot as Torkoal continued pouring on the heat. When Fuzzy smelled something burning, he turned to see himself in an old Johnny Cash song.

"When did this ring of fire lit?" he wondered. The melting concrete snared Fuzzy in his place. The flames licked at the fur, scorching the fuzz and denim. Blossom arrived at the scene just as Ash was ready to put Fuzzy in his place.

"Torkoal, jump!" Torkoal leaped high into the air. "Iron Defense!" Again, Torkoal's head and limbs were tucked into his shell. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on Torkoal!" Pikachu leaped high after Torkoal with the glowing tail, smashing the shell-like a bullet to a gun and this bullet had some extra spin. Fuzzy had his arm out. Not enough. BOOM! Torkoal's shell rolled off of Fuzzy's hand and into his face, propelling him out of the ring of fire but Ash wasn't done with Fuzzy Flambe. "Finish it with Overheat!" Torkoal fired a stream of white fire, nailing the opened enemy. He was high, he was far...he was gone! Back to the woods, Fuzzy vanished. "Nice job, you two!" Pikachu and Torkoal wanted to celebrate but there's a minor problem: Torkoal had no hands. Instead, both bumped heads, softly. Well, no need to get hurt, right? This left Ash with his Pokémon and Princess.

"Well, I wasn't aware you could take control of creatures to do your bidding," she cooed. "Maybe there's something we can do together in a day or two like a date?" That isn't going to happen on Blossom's watch.

"That's what you think, Princess!" she protested by easily wrapping Princess in her Yo-Yo. Hey, look! A female mummy! Not for long! Blossom yanked on the string, causing Princess to spin like a top. After her trip with the spins, she was so dizzy that she couldn't stay standing. At that time, Bubbles and Buttercup, transformed, came by with a giant-size coin purse.

"One Princess Morbucks, ready for delivery," Buttercup joked as Blossom tossed the downed Princess into the purse.

"Let's get back to the lab!" Bubbles reassured as they flew back the way they came. Ash recalled Torkoal, ready to join back with the professor. That's when a car rolled up. The blue Corvette stopped where an old, gray-haired and mustachioed man stepped out with a blond woman in white who hid her face behind a silver clipboard.

"Blossom, what's going on?!" the old man asked, rather upset. "Why was this boy allowed to fight those three?" Blossom saw how unnerved the old man was.

"You see, Mayor, it's like this," the redhead superhero stuttered. "We needed to recharge and Ash here volunteered to keep New Townsville safe. I have to admit with his Pokémon, he's awesome!" Ash and Pikachu itched their heads in embarrassment. "Anyway, can you give him a ride back to the lab?"

"Sure, Blossom," the blond woman agreed. Mayor gawked at the facially hidden woman.

"Are you sure it's okay, Miss Bellum?" he irked.

"We're responsible for the Powerpuff Girls as they are with New Townsville. It's appropriate." Miss Bellum and Mayor entered back in the car and joined by Ash. Blossom flew back to the lab as the car reached the parking lot. In the lab, Princess was lying unconscious on a bed as the Professor prepared a laser aimed at the hostile redhead. The white beam from the laser rifle coated Princess while Ash watched. After the application, the puffy Afro on Princess turned to cotton ball pigtails, the hair was brighter and some of her clothes like her knee socks changed from black to white. Ash was astounded with what happened to Princess.

"Sapphire must have screeched and turned Princess a little mad," the Professor described. Ash had to ask what happened to Princess that caused her to become destructive.

"I don't get it," he wondered in confusion. "What happened to her?" Ken decided to answer.

"It started a while ago when Dad and I made a new component called Chemical Z," he explained. "An iceberg nearly crushed the city in which I used the Chemical Z laser to destroy the iceberg, but in the process, a cascade of black and white lights showered New Townsville. Several black lights hit plenty of people and creatures, Mojo and Princess to name two. However, four white lights emerged, striking Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup...and Poochi." The toy dog jumped up and introduced itself.

"It still feels new to me but I've been able to get use to it," it barked. Interested, Ash seemed to understand the issue.

"However, there are some who've been hit by the black Z-rays that can't be changed back like Fuzzy or the Gangrene Gang," the Professor added. "Heck, we're still trying to figure out where the iceberg came from and why it caused all those weather anomalies all over the world." A daunting and rather useless task to revert those struck by the Z-rays to be normal.

"Sounds never-ending," Ash assumed. He could only wonder what to do since those affected by the black rays created by Chemical Z would forever be altered, never to be normal again. Bubbles and Buttercup hoisted Princess on a gurney, ready to escort her back to her home. That's when something bothered Ash as the two girls left to carry the other away. "Something doesn't feel right. Mojo had the teleporter which sent the girls to the Kiri Kiri Mountains where we ran into each other. Why didn't he use it to attack Princess or Fuzzy or even you guys?" That was a good question, one not even the father and son geniuses had a straight answer.

"Beats me," Ken shrugged. "I know I installed fresh batteries into it so it couldn't be a power short." The boy had no clue but the father had a hypothesis.

"Well, if your invention worked, my guess is that Mojo took it home and disassembled it to understand its components," he theorized. "Then again, it's not like we know what goes through that monkey's mind." Something that struck a nerve with Mayor.

"If that's the case, it's a good thing I wasn't the target," he gulped, wiping his forehead of sweat. "I'd rather stay and run New Townsville, not go somewhere where I'd be stuck for the rest of my life." Yeah, who would run New Townsville in your absence? The professor didn't want to ponder too long about possibilities.

"Let's drop the subject and see you back home," he remembered about the machine. He reached the machine and hit a few buttons. When he pulled the lever...nothing. This was a problem! "Uh oh..." The machine used to help the Powerpuff Girls and Ash here wasn't working.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Ken questioned. Professor looked at the monitor, noticing that there was a gauge which read a red stack smaller in measurement. A lot smaller.

"I need to let my teleporter recharge. It's only at 30%. It needs to be fully charged for it to work properly and that can take all night." So time was needed to make sure the teleporter created another vortex properly. "I kinda wish Mojo didn't steal your teleporter, Ken."

"Yeah..." Realizing that Ash and Pikachu weren't going back to the Pokémon World tonight, Blossom had an idea on the trainer.

"Hey, why not stay at my place for the night?" she proposed. Ash with a girl at her home?

"Blossom, you've got school in the morning," Professor warned. "And if I recall from Bubbles and Buttercup, you've got some homework that need to be done." A gulp from Blossom warned her that there were more important things to worry about than Ash. "I'll make sure you get a chance to see him before he goes home." Blossom finally accepted, exiting the lab to go ahead on home...but not before laying one press of the lips on Ash's cheek. The sudden kiss blossomed Ash's cheeks red. The father and son were not sure what the exchange was about but even they were astonished with the love Ash received.

"Here I thought with how Ash fought today, he'd be better suited for Buttercup," Ken assumed. Professor would argue.

"Nah, Bubbles would be more appropriate. He used those creatures perfectly like a strategist in a war." Ash didn't think deciding which Powerpuff Girl was his favorite mattered.

"Is choosing which Powerpuff Girl really necessary?" he debated. The father and son stood quiet, not sure a peep could help their case. For Ash, spending a night in New Townsville wasn't a problem. He just wished his friends were with him.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. Interview with the Talking Ape

_Chapter 5: Interview with the Talking Ape_

* * *

Ash and Pikachu were in for a shock. The Professor and Ken checked to see if the teleporter was ready to send Ash and Pikachu back to their world. Boy, if all the stories were like that, it would be immediately boring. The system was, and it said on the monitor, "OUT OF SERVICE." If Blossom wished for Ash to stay in New Townsville, wish granted. "Out of service?" Ken gasped. "But how?" The Professor was just as puzzled.

"That's a good question, Ken," he shrugged while Pikachu looked on his shoulder. Ash was also up, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. He couldn't believe that his trip back to the Pokémon World would be delayed. That's when he saw a monitor showing a shaking phone. He hit the receiver and Mayor was being shown.

"Mr. Mayor, good morning," Ash greeted him while disguising his angst for his inability to return.

"It's you, again," Mayor remembered. "All my digital clocks have all reset so I don't know what time it is! In fact, none of the city had working power for sometime." A blackout. "The reason I'm calling is to make sure everyone's okay." Ash made a quick assumption to what happened.

"Was Fuzzy behind the blackouts?" Mayor understood why Ash would think Fuzzy was behind it. After all, sanitation workers were cleaning up the messes from him, Princess and Mojo yesterday afternoon.

"Technically, not quite. Some debris blew into the generators and caused the malfunction." Debris from the fight? The malfunction screwed the townspeople out of electricity. Ken wasn't sure that it was the case on a personal level.

"That's impossible here," he denied. "We have our own running generator as backup for when something like that were to occur." In a sense, if there was an outage, Professor and son would be unaffected by it. Something the professor was quick to disagree on.

"Uh, Ken?" he called to his son. "Yes, we do have a backup generator but the teleporter runs on the city's systems." Ken's jaw dropped like a bag of potatoes. For a guy who's a professor, Professor didn't think this through. "If the generators are back online, I'll reset the system to send Ash back home." Mayor nodded, telling Professor it's safe to restart.

"I'm sorry about your return, Ash," Mayor apologized. "You can enjoy the day as you like. Heck, you can even visit the Powerpuff Girls at school. I'll let my brother in on you stopping by if you like." Visiting Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup at school? Ash smiled but chose to take it easy on them.

"Thanks, Mayor," he praised. "But I'm gonna tour around New Townsville if that's okay." Mayor, slightly upset, acknowledged Ash's wish.

"Very well. I should warn you that those affected by the Z-rays won't be as kind as the Powerpuff Girls or Poochi." Ash and Pikachu glared at the toy dog. The dog wanted to know why they were staring.

"What?!" the dog asked. "Never heard of a talking robotic puppy before?" It wasn't that it was a puppy that could talk human. It was something nearly related.

"Considering we deal with a talking cat on a daily basis, we shouldn't be too surprised," he shrugged. The dog wasn't too upbeat after hearing that. On that note, Ash and Pikachu allowed the father and son to work on restarting the teleporter. The city folk of New Townsville were busy resuming normal like nothing from yesterday had happened. As they toured the city, they stopped by a small restaurant...with a walking bowl of soup.

"Welcome, welcome!" the bowl of soup greeted. "You came here for some Ramen, huh?" Ash sat down at the booth and Pikachu hopped onto the counter. The talking bowl seemed intrigued with Ash. "Hold the phone! You're the same kid who took down Fuzzy yesterday! You're all over the New Townsville's news!" Ash was just as surprised about getting on the news as he was about this sporadic bowl.

"Really?" he gasped. The bowl pointed to the TV which was starting its broadcast.

"It's 8:30 in the morning in New Townsville and most of the talk was on one young man when the Powerpuff Girls weren't in sight," a blond woman in a business suit addressed the camera. "Authorities have no clue who this young man is but how he was able to remove Fuzzy from the city using an unusual mouse and tortoise is amazing, proof that we don't really need the Powerpuff Girls for everything." They played the footage of Ash's quick bout with Fuzzy. Ash was able to view himself as he and his Pokémon beat and burned Fuzzy in front of Princess.

"Not many people can stand up to Fuzzy like you did," the bowl raved as he presented two bowls of stew with egg, ham, onion, noodles and golden brown broth. "Two breakfast Ramen on the house!" Free food!

"Thanks!" Ash accepted as he and Pikachu downed the bowls of Ramen. The tasty broth and breakfast mix down the hatch was pleasant to the stomach. It's kind of weird to see someone eating a bowl of Ramen...when you _are _a bowl of Ramen and yet this dish wasn't phased. After the meal, Ash and Pikachu bid farewell to their new cup of tea...no, blue plate special...ah, forget it!

"Come back anytime for more Ramen!" The two continued to tour New Townsville when girls and young women spotted yesterday's hero. Quickly, they were surrounded by a horde of the other gender.

"Can I get your autograph?!" one girl cried up.

"Oh, me too!" a teenager requested. These girls presented notebooks, pictures, pens, markers, paper, ink pads, almost anything to write with and write on. Some of the women even sneaked a kiss on his face. Some hugged Pikachu. What, afraid to get fur on your lips? After what seemed like an hour, the girls dashed away, beaming smiles painted on each face. They're not the only ones. The only thing was the girls were figuratively painted. Ash was literally painted...with lipstick and makeup all over his face, none actually on his lips. Odd.

"Where's Max when you needed him?" he murmured in exhaustion. Face covered in kisses...lipstick kisses, Ash dragged his feet a bit when Bubbles came around the corner. She spotted Ash and all those kisses.

"Whoa, Ash, what happened to you?" she asked. It's all on his face, it's pretty telling.

"Fan girl bonanza," he murmured. Bubbles pulled out a handkerchief and got to work cleaning Ash's face. Ash spotted the clock reading 12:10 P.M. Something was amiss. "What about school? Lunch break?"

"Nope. Today's a half-day. We forgot about it after we were sent to your world." An honest mistake that Ash wasn't blaming her for. "Besides, what do you mean a bonanza? Where were you kissed?" The lips weren't one but even Ash had to point it out.

"Under the eye, the eyelid, the nose, the forehead, the cheek, the ear, the chin... who kisses someone on the chin?" Not sure and we're not willing to find out. Bubbles got all the makeup from Ash.

"That should do it!" Ash rubbed his face to make sure. "You know, we're pretty much alike."

"Oh, really? How?"

"I'm very popular in school. I get a heck of a lot of letters from pretty much every boy...plus a few girls." Astonished, Ash had to wonder how she does it.

"How do you keep control of your popularity?" Bubbles laughed, thinking he was joking.

"It's not easy. I just ignore all of them, hoping that they'd stop writing one day." The way her popularity has gone, it's going to take a while. That's when Blossom and Buttercup entered the fray.

"Bubbles?" Blossom asked as Buttercup turned her head to the redhead. "You'd better not be making any moves on my boy!" Someone's jumping the gun.

"The only move I made on Ash is cleaning his face for you, Miss Blossom Ketchum!" Blossom hopped back in hesitation and embarrassment, much to Buttercup's bemusement.

"You gotta stop opening up to these comebacks," she warned. "Otherwise, you'll trust nobody in the long run." That's harsh on Blossom.

"Forget you!" she screeched as she snagged Ash by the head and dashed off. Ah, cartoon physics. This left Bubbles and Buttercup wondering what that outburst was about. Buttercup had a more befuddling puzzle on her mind.

"You know, something doesn't feel right," she studied. "Blossom's always chasing after boys and boys come after you. But Ash is a big contradiction: he's mostly attached to Blossom and doesn't give you a second glance." Bubbles wasn't as concerned with this detail.

"Is that really a problem?" she questioned. Buttercup could only look back to where Ash was taken by Blossom. At a nearby park, Blossom was breathing heavily from running away from her friends. Boy, what was her problem.

"Is there something you don't wanna say in front of your teammates?" he asked. Blossom turned to Ash, hands folded in front of her skirt.

"Ash, do you like me?" she questioned. Ash wasn't worried about this question.

"What's with that question?"

"Well, when the teleporter is charged up, you'll be back on your journey again, starting back at Rubello Town. You'll also be back with your friends and...away from us." She was upset about Ash leaving. Ash wanted to correct her about the situation.

"In case you forget, the Professor and Ken's teleporter can link us together. If you wanna visit me and my friends, all you need to do is just ask." To Ash, breaking up wasn't a problem since there were possibilities of coming back together.

"Yeah, I-I suppose so. I mean...I've actually met someone who never complained about how I behaved around him and...well, you've protected me when I was in trouble." Ash didn't think of this as a big deal. He was the only one of the two. "Kind of a funny way to express love to another." The reddening of her cheeks clinched the issue. Hearing her confession, Ash sensed another dilemma Blossom was having trouble.

"So that's it. You have problems talking to people, huh?" Blossom jumped again in surprise. She dipped her head in shame. "Hey, maybe you can spend time in Pallet Town and see the neighbors there. They can help you in how to approach the person." Sound advice.

"Thanks. That's sweet." Before anymore thought aroused, footsteps attracted attention. There was Mojo, seating at a bench and looking down in the dumps. Interested, Ash and Blossom came over to see the simian, trying not to antagonize him.

"Mojo!" Mojo turned to see the "smelly" humans, not angst to attack.

"You're that smelly boy who beat Fuzzy, mojo!" he recognized as he pointed a gloved finger at Ash. Ash wasn't one to deny the accusation.

"Yeah..." he agreed.

"How?! How did you do it?! How is it that you could take down Fuzzy easily where those smelly Powerpuff Girls have hard times?!" There's a question Ash would have difficulty answering.

"I guess when you train with Pokémon, you tend to understand how some attacks work outside of normal battles." That left Mojo scratching his dome helmet. Ash had a few questions of his own. "By the way, you stole a hand-held device that sent the girls to my world, right?" The assumption made Mojo cup and run his hairy chin.

"Mojo remembers that Mojo used something from the smelly professor's home. Mojo turned the Powerpuffs to normal girls and opened some sort of portal to disappear." So he did remember all that happened before the girls met Ash and Pikachu. They sensed they were on the right track.

"So you do remember what happened yesterday!" Blossom repeated. Mojo struggled to keep composure. Then, Blossom had an intriguing theory. "You had Ken's technology in your hands to send anyone to wherever you wanted them to go." Mojo pondered on Blossom's proclamation.

"Mojo liked how the hand-held worked that Mojo took it to Mojo's hideout and took it apart." Ash and Blossom couldn't believe what Mojo was admitting. Instead of causing chaos to New Townsville, Mojo simply disassembled the invention to understand its functions. For a monkey that was hit with black Z-rays and have a brain that burst out of his cranium, that was surely short-minded. "I was wanting to repair it before using it on Mayor to control New Townsville but that smelly pink Fuzzy ruined those plans." Okay, maybe not _that_ short-minded.

"You still have the pieces to the device?" Ash asked.

"Of course, Mojo does. But Mojo expects something in return." Talk about bargaining a deal.

"In your dreams, banana breath!" Blossom snapped back. Mojo huffed a snarl at the retort.

"Then no hand-held. That's final!" Blossom steamed in frustration. Mojo was making things difficult for the two. Ash had an idea.

"Well, you're missing out on what's in my world," he suggested. "Believe me, it's a great place where animals like what you were before Chemical Z tagged you." Mojo listened with intent. This world Ash spoke of... What could he want from there? And could Mojo return Ash to his world instead of Professor? What about Blossom and her emotions to Ash?

* * *

TO BE CONCLUDED...


	6. Monkeying the Monkey

_Chapter 6/Final: Monkeying the Monkey_

* * *

Ash may have put everyone at risk with this move. He, Pikachu and Blossom found a bewildered little Mojo in the park, stunned at how Ash defeated Fuzzy easily when the Powerpuff Girls struggled with the pink beast in overalls. Then came the teleporter that Mojo stole. Mojo had ripped apart the device to understand its components. Mojo would agree to letting Blossom return the device but not without a trade. Ash would allow the simian to walk on his world free of any "smelly" Powerpuffs. This brought ire to Blossom. If that ape were to get into the Pokémon World, who knows what kind of chaos would be brought. They arrived at a rundown, busted up structure. "Mojo never bring humans to home of Mojo, mainly that Mojo fear smelly humans would destroy the stuff Mojo works on," Mojo confessed. Seeing the robot again, dormant this time, Ash felt he had reasons.

"Can't really blame you," he agreed. "This machine is awesome." Mojo embarrassingly rubbed his dome with a smile.

"Thank you! Mojo feels happy!" That's when he peered around for the remote. "Now where is teleporter?" Blossom still imagined what danger lurked if Mojo found a way to Ash's home world. However, what Mojo said next would feel too humiliating to see. "Mojo don't remember after smelly fuzzball threw Mojo on head." He forgot where he put the teleporter? This opened a possibility for the humans to help and hurt Mojo at once.

"Let's help out," she suggested to Ash. "It'll be quicker that way." Mojo turned to Blossom, ready to snap at her...until the word "quicker" struck.

"Even super villains need help from time to time." The four began to search high and low through the dusty, grimy, filthy landscape of Mojo's hideout. Ash picked up a few hand-held devices when he came across one specific device. The reason was that "KEN U" was carved out. The device was repaired and Mojo forgot it was?

'This has to be it,' he thought. That's when he pocketed the device as Mojo's eyes were averted to elsewhere. Who knew Ash was a thief? Was that Ash's game plan all along, to steal Mojo's stolen item back so that he could get back to his world? The device seemed to disappear in his hood. Talk about utilizing your wear, it keeps heads warm and hides small equipment instead of the pocket. Pikachu, unaware of his sticky-fingered master, gave up after looking around in his vicinity.

("It's not over here!") he surrendered. Blossom was ready to throw in the towel as well.

"It's not here!" she called.

"Yeah, I don't know what Mojo did with it but it's not where I was looking," he lied. "Sorry, Mojo." Mojo, also unaware to Ash's illegal theft, understood the development.

"When Mojo finds it, we'll all go," Mojo planned. "Mojo promise." Mojo didn't know that his mojo has been absconded. Ash and Blossom left and proceeded back to the Professor's lab.

"Well, so much for a quick way back," she frowned. When Pikachu saw the in on Ash's mug, he realized something wasn't right. He jumped to his pockets on his sweat-tee, forcing the humans to stop. Finding nothing in the pocket, Pikachu crawled up to his shoulder and removed his hat. Nothing there either! What secret did Ash hold? He didn't even have his backpack. Finally, he checked the hood. Bingo! Pulling out the hand-held, Blossom gasped. "The teleporter!" Ash had no shame.

"Mojo's gonna go loco when he finds out he's been swindled," he snickered. "Who knew Team Rocket's criminal actions would rub off more than Brock's habit of chasing girls?" Blossom huffed a confused chuckle, trying to wonder who Brock was and why he pursued girls. "Let's just get to the lab before Mojo gets a clue." The three ran back to the lab where Ash presented Ken with the teleporter.

"You got my teleporter back!" he excitedly cheered. "But how did you get it back from Mojo? He never gives anything he steals!" Bubbles and Buttercup had to know as well.

"Mojo doesn't use his dome as much as he should," he scoffed. "But you did help me find it." Ken figured out how by finding his engraving on the device.

"So I did." Poochi was in awe about how Ash outsmart the simian.

"Carving your name was a great idea, Ken~!" it barked. Ken's thought of Poochi's praise was exaggerated.

"I did it to keep the girls from messing around with it. Next time, I'll put it somewhere safe."

"Yeah, that's a good idea, Ken," Buttercup teased. "But I gotta say that I'm pretty impressed with how you handled the situation." Bubbles agreed but cooed at the words coming from Buttercup's mouth.

"That's unusual to hear that from you," she pointed out. Buttercup turned to her partner, wondering what she referred.

"I give out plenty of compliments. What's so unusual about it?"

"You said pretty. That's what." Buttercup's face burned red in embarrassment. Did she say it like that?

"I said it in an exaggerated meaning, Bubbles. Don't get it mixed up with something like cute or beautiful. What I say and what I mean is different from you." The others laughed at Buttercup's definition.

"Alright, everyone," the Professor tried to reason. "Ash, the deluxe is fully charged up and ready to send you home." Ash was happy to get the word that the Pokémon World was opened. Blossom? Not at all. She wanted Ash to stay with her. "All you have to do is tell where you want to be transported to and it'll take you there." Easy as cake. Ash and Pikachu walked up to the keyboard and typed the city they were trying to go to: Rubello Town. The computer screen immediately popped "SEARCHING" on the screen. After a minute... the screen read "1 MATCH FOUND." Ash got excited. This had to be the one where his friends are. A photo of an overview of a town showed the landscape, including a building with a red "P" on it.

"That's it!" he confirmed. "That's where we were suppose to go." His reunion was close at hand.

"Okay, let me start it up." Pressing a few buttons, the machine revved up. Then a wall of white light shot open and colors inside swirled. The gateway was open. "It's ajar. Good luck, Ash." Ash nodded before turning to the girls.

"Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup," he began. "Thanks...all of you." Bubbles and Buttercup bobbed nods, accepting Ash's appraisal. Blossom dashed forward, wrapping her arms around the departing boy she quickly grown to love in a hug.

"I wanna come!" she whispered. Bubbles, Buttercup and Ken didn't hear Blossom's requested. All they knew was that she was giving him a little goodbye hug.

"You might want to hurry up," the professor warned. "The energy will deplete soon and you won't have another chance for a week." It was now or never for Ash and Pikachu. The two dove toward the portal with Blossom trailing, startling the others as all three entered the portal. Bubbles and Buttercup chased but the portal closed up. Now Blossom was back in the Pokémon World much to the chagrin of the rest. Back in the Pokémon World, Ash, Blossom and Pikachu were at the town's entrance. It's like they just got out of the mountains not long ago.

"So, this is Rubello Town?" she guessed. As they entered, there were signs about a Pokémon Contest in the town written on the fliers. Seeing the date, Ash breathed in relief.

"It's a couple of days away," he relayed. "And I bet they're at the Pokémon Center. Good thing I studied the map." They raced on to find the giant "P" on a round roof building. "Let's head in. I bet they're waiting." The three entered where it was packed with trainers and Pokémon. Guess they wanted a thorough checkup prior to the contest. Without warning, a pink kitty started pawing on Ash's leg. Feeling it, Ash looked to the kitten with the squinted eyes.

"Skitty, what's up?" To Blossom, this Skitty knew Ash. Ash petted the Skitty, comforted with who this was.

"That's...not yours, is it?"

"It's May's Skitty. You wanna lead the way?" Hearing that the Skitty belonged to a friend, she could only wonder what his friend appeared as. They stopped by a door. Skitty pawing and mewing for attention. It got attention from behind the door.

"Skitty?" a girl called, her voice somewhat muffled by the door. She opened the door, revealing a brunette girl wearing a snug red t-shirt and black biker shorts. Her hands had white gloves and her hair was wrapped in a red bandanna. "Did you escape from your Pokéball again?" If Skitty freed itself from its confines, we have a Pokémon Houdini on our hands. Skitty's puffy tail pointed to Ash with Skitty not even looking. That's one gifted kitten of a Pokémon. The girl turned her eyes to where the tail aimed and spotted Ash with Blossom.

"Hey, May!" he greeted. May was shocked to see Ash still alive after what happened in the mountains. She got to Ash and hugged him, thankful that he was okay.

"Ash, thank goodness!" Ash understood May's sudden outpouring of feelings. She had to believe he was long gone on the Kiri Kiri Mountains. She broke from the grateful hug. "How did you get yourself off the mountains? I bet Max and Brock will be happy to see you here." Ash slightly blushed red as he turned to Blossom.

"Just had a little help from her and her friends." Blossom silently confirmed his story which wasn't true. May walked to Blossom, hand out for a shake.

"Thanks for helping Ash off the mountains." Blossom smiled, accepting her shake.

"I would've done it for anyone," she brushed off. Both enjoyed a laugh as Ash and Pikachu watched. "So, you're gonna take part in the upcoming contest shortly?"

"Yep. I'm planning on using my Beautifly and if I qualify for the Battle Round, I'll use Bulbasaur." She wasn't waiting to cross the bridge, she wanted to be ready for what's to come.

"Well, since I'll be hanging around for a while, I like to see you compete." May's glee was support for her upcoming performance. Recalling what the professor said, Blossom's stuck in the Pokémon world for a week. She'll get to see so much before the portal opened up again. Just imagine what she'll be telling Bubbles and Buttercup. That night, the Center's lobby was cleared out. Blossom was hanging out on the waiting sofas with some of the Pokémon. Ash came up to Blossom, wondering why she was awake.

"Enjoying our Pokémon a bit?" he asked. Blossom giggled as she averted her eyes to Ash.

"Maybe a little," she laughed. Ash sat down, his Pikachu climbing on to his shoulder. "Besides, Brock knows how to whip up a dish and Max has a leash on him." That's when Ash stopped toying around and had a question in mind since returning.

"So, why did you wanted to be with me and spend a week here, knowing that anyone hit with the Black Z-rays will attack New Townsville, especially Mojo." Her answer was a bit selfish.

"Because I love you. I wanna go with love conquers all and after finding a boy from every boy I chased in school...I can honestly say that I found the one." Ash was fascinated to hear that Blossom was like his friend in which they chased the opposite gender. Talk about the shoe on the other foot. The only difference was that one still had to continue his voyage.

"I guess that now you found the one to stay with you, your journey's over, huh?" One scoff from Blossom before she reached in and tackled Ash's face with her kiss. The Pokémon were eating the scene. Ash was loved by a powered heroine. And one spiky brunette teen gawked horribly to the sight. His clothes were brown mostly from his pants to his jacket.

"I need to know!" he whispered. "I need to know his secret!" He was ready to face Ash but someone had other ideas and dragged the tanned teen away.

"You will know nothing and like it!" growled a raven-haired boy in glasses and a green polo t-shirt and shorts. That exchange went unnoticed by Ash, Blossom or the Pokémon. The humans went right back to kissing. The week had gone fast for Blossom, somewhat concerned about Bubbles and Buttercup. However, her appearance with Ash's friends proved wonders. May won out her Pokémon Contest and Team Rocket was still no match, even though Blossom never transformed. At the week's end, the portal reopened and Blossom said farewell as she returned home, hoping one day that she would come back for Ash. At New Townsville Junior High, Blossom presented a photo of her, Ash and his friends to her friends.

"May..." Blossom pointed to May on the photo. Next was the raven-haired boy. "Max..." And finally, the tanned brunette. "Brock." Bubbles and Buttercup had their chance to know Ash's friends.

"That little Max is adorable," Bubbles awed. "I wouldn't mind snuggling up to him sometime." Buttercup snickered at Bubbles at her admiration to Max, the one who pulled Brock away wanting tips from Ash.

"So, there's a guy you actually have a heart on, huh?" Buttercup teased. "And he didn't leave one love letter in your locker." Bubbles took offense to that.

"Excuse me, but at least we have people we admire! Unlike some athletic tomboy who doesn't appreciate femininity!" Those were fighting words to Buttercup.

"Hey, just because I have a hatred for skirts doesn't mean I hate all femininity!"

"Oh really? What femininity do you appreciate?" Buttercup's struggle was immediate. She couldn't find the answer for Bubbles' taunt.

"Okay, guys," Blossom tried to ease. "How about we all head back there during school vacation." There's a plan that the other two didn't argue about.

"Good idea," Buttercup agreed. "Who knows, I might teach the Pokémon how to play soccer." Blossom and Bubbles sighed. Bubbles had a reason for it but Blossom would be the one to break the news.

"Not all the Pokémon have hands and/or feet," she pointed out. Buttercup chuckled at her own mistake. She made an error but caught herself. Suddenly, their belts began to beep. Trouble was afoot. No teacher present, the sneaked out of the classroom and reached the roof undetected. Blossom pulled the communicator from her belt and opened it, Mayor on the other line. "What's wrong, Mayor?"

"Girls, it's Mojo again!" Mayor pleaded. "My guess is that he's still mad at getting fleeced by that boy of yours!" Duty called.

"We're on it!" They transformed on the roof. "Hyper...Blossom!"

"Rolling...Bubbles!" Bubbles chanted.

"Powered...Buttercup!" Buttercup called out. After transformation, the girls flew to where Mojo in his robot were causing havoc. Buildings were being damaged, roads were warping and people were running from the destruction.

"Where is that smelly boy?!" Mojo demanded. How long did it take for Mojo to realize that the stolen teleporter was stolen back? If it had taken days, maybe after Blossom returned from the Pokémon World, his enormous brain might actually be hurting him more than helping. The Powerpuff Girls swooped in, finding an all too common scene.

"For someone who's brain has outgrown his head, he'd think of something a lot better than simple destruction," Buttercup murmured. Blossom and Bubbles blew out flustered grunts. This was almost too easy to deal with.

"I'll lead," Bubbles offered, her wand at the ready. "Exploding Bubbles!" Many bubbles emerged from Bubbles' wand and surrounded Mojo. The popping of the bubbles had some force which rocked the robot and Mojo. "Take the legs!"

"You got it!" Blossom acknowledged. She flung a barrage of Yo-Yo's a the robot's feet and wrapped the legs together, causing the robot to lose balance. Buttercup got underneath Mojo's robot, hammer cocked.

"Stupid monkey!" she scolded before...CRASH! POW! One swing of her mighty hammer destroyed the glass of the cockpit and nailed Mojo clear of New Townsville. The robot fell flat with no operator to control and the damage it had suffered. The crowd cheered at the successful stop of Mojo. To the girls, it was cake. Speaking of...

"Strawberry smoothies?" Blossom offered. Bubbles and Buttercup's reaction was one with some normal acceptance.

"Sure," Bubbles liked.

"But you're buying," Buttercup ordered. "Call it punishment for going after Ash without us." Blossom nervously laughed at Buttercup's penalty.

"Okay, I'll buy," she stuttered. Still, Blossom looked to the sky, knowing that the one she fell in love for is one trip away. And so...once again, the day is saved...thanks to the Powerpuff Girls! Yeah, it's in New Townsville but what's wrong with a little nostalgia?

* * *

THE END


End file.
